en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/769392 Comments by magicman2010 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014375 I’m positive that before we had buildings and technology many years ago that people didn’t use sex as entertainment as much as they do today. I’m not excluding myself out of this but I wish I had someone, just one woman I could come home to. But what do I know about these things, I’m just a kid. We would live in a better world if everyone cared about everyone in some manner, but that just won’t happen. Greed comes in the way and because of this, people have to watch out or look out for their families because it’s very dangerous on our planet. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:47:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014375 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014334 For example, the diamonds from Sierra Leone, Do we really need this? So much time and money is spent on ridiculous things it’s really not surprising to know that we have slavery, poverty, sickness, early death, and other forms of suffering on our planet. Also, what really had me thinking while watching Avatar was the bond that the people shared for each other. If one had sex with the other then a bond would form and they would be together forever. In our world that unheard of almost! We’re so use to having sex with multiple partners we don’t realized the harm we do to ourselves. We get scared when we speak about long term relationships and we all (especially the guys) want to be the alpha male who runs through many attractive females from various areas of race. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:47:24 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014334 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014288 That cartoon that Sam let us watch in class on Thursday about the pilgrims moving in onto the native Indians land was somewhat of an eye-opener that I never really paid any attention to. The English and other white people have slowly spread across the globe and taken over land with force by killing and spreading disease among the natives. This far from right, but they justify it and proceed with their plans. This is identical to what happened in the movie Avatar. The "white people" which includes the military are searching for a rare rock and because it is rare. Its value is set on an extremely high scale. These people, our people are willing to kill an entire race of living beings and also willing to destroy and entire planets ecosystem just to obtain these rock deposits. This movie sent many political messages but one these compares their world with our "dying" planet. Honestly, we never think about it, but we've destroyed our land (the land that has been stolen from the natives) and are running around the world to achieve other rare products that we can live without. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:47:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70014288 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431315 But we’re not. And soldiers of the US who decide they want to terrorize civilians of the Arab countries should really take a couple sociology classes and realize how dumb they really are. They should be stricter in the military about what some of these guys are doing to these people who already have it bad…their country ruined and families killed and separated. Imagine if that was the US? Would anybody help us? Definitely not the Middle East. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:36:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431315 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431252 Whoever believes that this does not exist in our world, that person would be a very ignorant person. Even though many people if not all of those who live outside the US may see us Americans as dogs eager for blood money and land, I would have to leave those political leaders out of the “True American” group. In my eyes, especially after 9/11, I would have to say that the those who believe in freedom for all and to care for your fellow human being is a very American within our country, not trying to convert Muslims into Christians and kill everything that’s not within American soil. I know many of us think that we are better than Arabs, Asians, Europeans, and other countrymen but we’re not, in fact “this a very ironic, we all came all over the continent and because of this, we should be more excepting of the differences in color, religion, culture, language and many other things. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:36:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431252 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431209 There are many people who get very annoyed at what Sam speaks about especially when it comes to religion and Christians, but I believe he never blatantly said that any of these religions where awful or bad. You can't say that the invasion in the Middle East that is going on comes from radical Christians or regular Christians, there's no particular group of Americans that are and especially for the Arab Muslims, they see us all as the same. How can one of us say or blame this war on just "radical Christians" Some of our country's leaders may only care about money and oil and use Christianity as a front. Also not every soldier in the military is a Christian. The blame is on many subgroups on both sides so to me neither side is “the good side" or "the bad side" like we see on television but there are good people on both sides. I am just ashamed that those on top do not care about the consequences of their actions mainly because those on the bottom of the social ladder seem to get hurt by their actions. I'm a huge believer of the conflict perspective where those who are rich and wealthy (basically on top) or who have authoritive abilities tend to use law as weapon. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:35:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68431209 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66323020 Sad to say that in our society, the disregard and dismay of females aren’t really seen as a vivid issue to end, maybe because “it’s a man’s world” and we put other issues at hand. It’s ironic how many of us disrespect women in so many forms but run right back home to our mothers, sisters, daughters and other women that we love and adore. Wed, 7 Apr 2010 03:05:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66323020 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66322967 There are many facets of life that reflect on and effect today’s youth and is spreading worldwide thanks to the internet. As far as children go with viewing these types of explicit items, parents should be more responsible instead of easily pointing fingers and making efforts in shutting down certain businesses. When parents spend so much valuable time, what time do they have for their kids? Food for thought, extreme examples of this would include Eminem’s release of the Marshall Matters LP and When Marilyn Manson was blamed for a school shooting because of his music. Many people expect others to be perfect but it’s funny because they are not perfect. We’re just making life hard for everyone by setting extreme standards that are merely impossible to reach. Overall, I do believe that rape games such as “rape lay” should be taken out of the selves but as far as other violent games such as those that include shooting and fighting should stay on the self. It’s fun to break the law and any idiot should know that replicating what they play or watch on television comes with extreme consequences. Wed, 7 Apr 2010 03:04:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66322967 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66322856 I too feel that these games that portray rape as the main goal in the game have a huge effect on not only the youth but those of age who play the game, and the argument that games like this are outlets for people so that they won't have to do it in real life is absurd. They would seem to make people want to commit crimes such as these. You can't compare these games with fighting or shooting games. For one, raping has a huge connection with raging hormones and the urge to kill someone does not. I'm not saying that these other games are issues, but games like "rape lay" are more serious. I feel as though that this is a more psychological issue and games like these should be banned from stores. The Japanese government seems to not care about women’s issues and is extremely lenient when it comes to the sales of these games. What the government should do is take initiative and worry about the issues and problems that are brought up by these games. Various genres of video games have been dubbed as “dangerous to the youth” but if you think about it, those that argue these points might as well go against the many genres of media and entertainment. Wed, 7 Apr 2010 03:03:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66322856 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643571 We live in a world where sticking to one’s race as far as marriage is obsolete and for some reason many people are attracted to features they are not used to or don’t see when they grew up around their own races. For the half Latino/ half white gentleman I would understand in a sense what he is going through, but do I have it harder than he does? It’s so many undertones to what I can identify myself with as mentioned above, but people still see me as a young black man with a possible mixture that may or may not be there. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 23:07:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643571 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643484 Some of this does benefit as well. For one, putting African American on a college application gave me many advantages as far as affirmative action and black scholarships that I would not be able to earn if I put other on my applications. Of course, I have had many disadvantages being black with Arab descent in this country. Obviously, many white people who are in high places look at black men as secondary citizens, also the sight of my name may stir up some dislike to police who are not afraid to use coercion especially in the borrow of State College. This also may have been a huge decision factor when I was accepted to Penn State and declined by many colleges. Personally, I identify with Eritrea, my country because I grew up around people just like me, along with African Americans and some white people as well. People usually identify with what they familiar with when they are mixed, for some it’s either “this or that” and for others it could be numerous groups involved. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 23:07:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643484 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643283 I have been going through this type of dilemma as well ever since taking soc 119. I've always seemed to identify with African Americans and I am African. On a deeper perspective, I am from North Africa; in class Sam has taught us that most North Africans are white because of their skin color. This is what confuses me. Even though I am from the North I have more of a darker skin tone. So even though my relatives may be lighter than me I identify as black and my relatives identify as white. This makes things even more confusing, so basically I have white relatives who actually identify themselves as black but have white skin. Through my overall experiences in life, especially with police, I would identify myself as black. To make things even more confusing I am of Arabic descent as well as African and my people speak Arab as a second language. Our first language is derived from Arab and is a Semitic language. So this makes me a black Arab man with white relatives? Also since I am not African American and just plain African what should I put down on a job application for any application for that matter? Should I just put other because there is no option for African, there's just one for African American. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 23:06:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65643283 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62678107 At first glance, it seems as though we have come a long way when it comes to situations like these, but the fact of the matter is that we haven’t. We have progressed nicely I would say but that’s not enough. People shape their entire lives around what they might believe when it comes to race relations like who they hang around with or want to hang around with, who their comfortable around, where they want to go or live, etc. This is detrimental to our social health and what we learn and see as youths may be a huge factor in the situation. To me it seems as though whites aren’t comfortable around blacks, from my experiences here at Penn State. Blacks may feel more comfortable around whites because they feel no fear when it comes to saying derogatory things that would offend a white person and even though I disagree many of us feel that white people owe us this type of comfort because of slavery. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:27:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62678107 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62677914 Also, I pictured a white snobby male who wanted to get their racism on the message board. Regardless of what the truth is, this situation angers me because it seems as though it’s “ok” when black people want to be rude and act like they have no sense and white people must always stay sharp and on top of their game. We are all human capable of maturity and intelligence no matter what the race or what background we have. I suppose I was somewhat embarrassed when Sam pointed out that white people answered the question more seriously and black people didn’t, especially when it’s not that many black and brown people in that class to begin with. Also you have to realize maybe white people where more serious because they didn’t want to offend anybody, also regardless of who the question was regarded to, white or black anybody could of answered the question if they wanted to. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:26:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62677914 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62677606 Also, I pictured a white snobby male who wanted to get their racism on the message board. Regardless oThis is a very good question. For some reason it seems as though that black people (or at least the black people within our class) did not get offended when other black people texted rude comments but when the same question was asked to white people things turned out different. This is what Dr. Sam Richards spoke of. White people are constantly aware or even scarred what they might say is offensive and black people as well as other minorities want white people to say what's on their mind but at the same time when a white person does speak his or her mind black and brown people seem to throw a fit or disapprove of what they say. It's as if we black people feel like they have a right or privilege when it comes to race relations. I've been guilty to acting like this as well being a black male. Personally, I believe those comments were made mainly because they're anonymous and that those who commented wanted to stir up a little action within the crowed. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:24:36 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62677606 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60160253 When I was a kid, it was somewhat difficult for me to pretend to be a hero such as Superman, Batman, or Spiderman because they where all white men. So when I would pretend to be these characters, I would make them black of course (being a black male). Growing up I realized how black people and other minorities where scarcely represented not only on films but cartoons as well. Can you think of at least one black super hero that reached the same amount of fame that superman did? I think not. It’s truly sad indeed, but if directors, cartoonists, and producers started adding a huge plethora of minority characters as lead characters, what would happen? Would people not watch them? That’s what I feel like those who create these shows must feel like. At the end it’s all about the ratings and people will do anything to increase their ratings on their shows, but at the same time, I feel like people would watch anything these days so it really shouldn’t matter, should it? Sun, 7 Mar 2010 07:37:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60160253 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60160116 This issue coincides with another article within this blog from about two weeks ago speaking of Avatar and the “white hero”. This article spoke of why most films needed a Caucasian male to take place as the hero of the film rather than a minority one. Unfortunately, we still live in a world where people are scared of change and would like to keep their place at the top of the “mountain”. Issues such as these in turn put a damper on minority kid’s imaginations and have other impacts watching these movies, cartoons, and other television shows. Sun, 7 Mar 2010 07:35:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60160116 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60159764 This is indeed true, white people seem to dominate most of these shows on various networks. It shows how much we have left to go within our society. Network producers must feel as though the majority of the people that watch their shows are white, but that’s just a guess. While on the topic of majority whites on television I would like to discuss this idea on a larger scale. If you look at other television shows and even films you would see more white people than other minorities, and if you think about it how many big time “white stars” can you think up fast in your head as opposed to minority ones? When it comes to white people this is easy: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christian Bale. That’s what popped in my head within a matter of minutes. Now if you try to do that on the other end what would happen: Will Smith and Denzel Washington? These are the only two major black stars I can think of that match up with fame and fortune similar to the white ones I mentioned. Why do you think this is? Sun, 7 Mar 2010 07:31:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment60159764 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/1880__trashed/#IDComment58918958 Looking back in US history, it’s ironic to think that the US government would let these tribes receive any amount of money after the huge discovery of oil. There have been many instances where this has not been the case. When Europeans first came to America, it seemed as though they took control of the land and created civilization and pushed the natives to the side. For reasons such as this, many minorities have garnered the idea that white people for the most part (to be more specific governments of certain Caucasian countries) are in a sense dominant and have agreed for land and money. There have been many colonized countries in the past by the French, British, Italians and many other white based countries. The country where I'm from, Eritrea was once colonized by Italy during World War 2. Afghanistan has been one of the few countries (if not the only country) that has prevented colonization more than one occasion. The British have made two efforts into taken the country over and failed, which globally embarrassed the British. French once had power over Haiti and Spain took over the rest of the Caribbean’s. The entire United States is based on a country that was taken over by whites. I believe that the Native American tribes that received huge financial benefits should not squander their money on expensive cars and petty things because it seems as though they’ve forgotten where they came from and would rather forget where they came from. Based on the tribes’ history it would seem as though the children within these reservations have not had any opportunity of higher education, with the money they are receiving, this could change. They could also fix dilapidated areas within the reservations as well. It may be easy to point fingers and blame a certain heritage for being “sell outs”, but if you were in these peoples’ spot what would you do? African Americans may have had it rough in the past and still do but the Native Americans seem to top the charts when it comes rough roots. African Americans may not know their origins but have a huge population that hasn’t hindered. On the other hand, the Native Americans have been killed off and put on reservations. Also, they have a dwindling culture. I have a belief that the US government must of felt some type of guilt relevant to the history of the Native Americans and decided to give let them keep their financial founding’s. Let’s be real, if they wanted to, they could take it. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:39:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/1880__trashed/#IDComment58918958 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-six__trashed/#IDComment57713394 Lesbians are more accepted within today's society and gays are not for a number of reasons. In some ways lesbians are seen as entertainment for men and let’s face it, being male is a huge advantage within our society. When it comes to gays, being seen in such a manner can possibly strip a male of his masculine identity and puts him in a shameful more feminine perspective. Today, there seems to be an unreachable sense of masculinity and femininity. In children’s toys, you can see extremely thin Barbie’s and very buff action figures and for human beings, these bodies are impossible to reach. You can see this repeat itself in the media as well. In the movie 300 for example, all of the actors who played Spartan soldiers had fake abs. What does that say about real men’s masculinity? Nothing positive I can assure you. The media molds all of our minds through television, newspaper, and even radio. When of the major issues I would like to point out would be the homophobia within the black community and hip hop culture. As a black kid, I grew up having hatred against gays but not lesbians, at least not against hot, sexy lesbians. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:09:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-six__trashed/#IDComment57713394